Your Right to Know

The mayor wants a permanent, citywide rodent-control program in Columbus.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman recently ordered his staff to include money in the 2014 budget after
hearing that calls to the city’s 311 system about rats have increased in recent months.

The Dispatch reported this month that the 311 system had received 202 complaints about
rats this year through September. That compares with 219 for all of 2012, 301 in 2011 and 354 in
2010.

This week, city inspectors began visiting homes in Clintonville, trying to determine the
magnitude of the problem there. Residents in that neighborhood have been particularly vocal about
rat sightings.

“While I am aware there may be environmental factors that have disturbed the rodents’ natural
habitats, drawing them into neighborhoods, I want to be sure that we are doing everything we can to
help residents and businesses control these pests,” Coleman wrote in a recent memo to leaders of
four city departments.

He instructed city directors to include funding for a rodent-control program in the
public-health department’s 2014 budget. Coleman will release his proposed budget next month, and
the Columbus City Council must approve it.

Officials are determining how much money to include in the budget request, said Columbus Public
Health spokesman Jose Rodriguez.

The city’s two-year pilot program that targeted rats in Downtown, the Short North and the
University District ended in 2008. It had annual funding of $275,000.

This week, city workers are going door to door in Clintonville to determine the scope of the
problem and provide information to residents on how to help reduce the number of rats there.

“It’s really difficult to come up with a program if we don’t know what the needs are going to
be,” Rodriguez said.

Columbus officials turned to experts in other Ohio cities and New York and at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention for guidance, he said. Columbus health officials have found no
evidence of disease transmission for rats in the past 10 years.

This summer, a Clintonville area commissioner and others distributed fliers in the Beechwold
neighborhood with tips on how to deal with rats.

“The perception of the issue was enough that it demanded action,” said Dan Williamson, a
spokesman for Coleman.

Community leaders applaud the move.

“They’re beginning to take some action. We’re very appreciative of that,” said Kristopher
Keller, a Clintonville area commissioner. “Hopefully, it is going to take care of the problem.”

Geoff Phillips, who leads the Highland West Neighbors Association in the northeastern part of
the Hilltop, agreed.

“It is a growing problem,” Phillips said. “In any central-city area with open dumpsters and
anything else, (a program) is essential. It needs to be permanent.”